Most household light fixtures utilize incandescent light bulbs, which contain an incandescent filament inside a glass enclosure. These conventional light sources are fragile and have limited lifetimes, due primarily to increasing vulnerability of the filament to breakage as it ages. In practice, typical incandescent light bulbs have a mean life of 500 to 4,000 hours.
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) represent an attractive alternative light source. Solid-state LEDs consume less power than incandescent light bulbs and may have lifetimes in excess of 100,000 hours. Besides producing little heat and being energy-efficient, LEDs are smaller and less vulnerable to breakage or damage due to shock or vibration than incandescent bulbs. LED characteristics generally also do not change significantly with age.
Moreover, LEDs can be used to create luminaires having novel form factors incompatible with most incandescent bulbs. More widespread luminaire design efforts not constrained by traditional incandescent form limitations will increase adoption of LED-based lighting and reap the energy savings associated therewith.